General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: High deductible heath plans maim and kill people [View all]Ms. Toad
(33,989 posts)that even for people who blow through the out of pocket max (like our family) they are often better than buying a standard plan. Bank the difference in the premium, and in most instances you will be ahead - even if disaster strikes every year.
Our office switched to a high deductible plan AND pays all of our out of pocket costs (up to $6000/year per family) because it is cheaper for them to cover 100% of our costs than it is for them to offer a low deductible plan which shifts some of the costs (deductible, co-pays, and co-insurance) to us.
So - in your example - if the younger person is buying their own insurance the annual premiums would be more likely to send them into bankruptcy than two catastrophic health events, because they would have paid that much (or more) every year they had the coverage than the much lower premiums + the out of pocket max for two catastrophic events which occurred in different plan years.
I don't have numbers handy, but you should sit down with an insurance broker sometime if you don't believe it. I've price shopped plans and most of the time, even if you hit the out of pocket max every single year on a high deductible plan, you are still better off with that plan than paying the outrageous premiums you pay for a cadillac plan each and every year.